My Way
by lakergirl4life
Summary: Jason's in jail for killing Alcazar, Carly knows something that could get him out but he wants her to keep quiet. Jarly, Brazen, Sason, Brenda, Johnny and Leyla.
1. Chapter 1

Part I

Jason closed his eyes for a few seconds and sighed, "Carly, promise me – "

Carly shook her head, "Don't make me promise," Carly whispered. "I don't want to lie to you and I can't promise that I won't say something." She could lie to everyone, anytime about anything. Everyone, except Jason. Not because she couldn't, not because he knew when she was lying – but because she wouldn't. Carly turned away from Jason and stared at the wall of the interrogation room.

Jason walked closer to Carly and placed his hand on her shoulder, "I'm going to get out of here," Jason said. He wasn't going to jail, especially now - especially for a murder that he didn't commit.

The moment Jason touched her, Carly started crying. "You didn't do it," Carly whispered. "We both know you didn't do it." Carly laughed bitterly at the irony of the situation. Jason was in jail, for murdering Alcazar when he didn't do it – again.

"I have another bail hearing in the morning," Jason said. "Diane will get me out on bail."

"And if she doesn't?" Carly asked. Jason had already been in jail for three days and as far as she was concerned, that was three days too long. He could get out of jail, today, if he would just let her help him.

"Then you can break me out of jail," Jason said.

Carly laughed and turned around, "So you're agreeing to one of my plans in advance?" Carly asked. "Let's say that Diane does what you pay her a small fortune to do, can I get a rain check on you agreeing to one of my plans?"

"No," Jason said. Carly started toying with the zipper on her jacket. "Hey, look at me? Everything is going to be fine, okay? Just trust me."

"I do trust you," Carly said. "Trusting you isn't the problem." Carly stepped away from Jason and started pacing. "The problem is them! They're the problem. They're too stupid and too idiotic to figure out that you didn't kill Alcazar. You didn't kill Luis then, and you didn't kill Lorenzo now. Although you should have, but that's beside the point. You know, I should break you out of jail now. Spinelli could do it. If he could get into the Metro Court without tipping off anyone, he could get you out of here. Is he still at the penthouse?"

"No," Jason said.

"No what?" Carly asked. "No, he's not at the penthouse or no, don't do this."

"Don't do this," Jason said.

"Why?" Carly asked. "Give me one good reason why not?"

"You know why not," Jason said. Carly started to say something then changed her mind. "Carly – not one word. Not a word to Johnny or Diane or anyone. Nobody, okay?"

"Jason – "

"NOBODY!" Jason shouted. "Nobody knows, we do this my way." He didn't want Carly to help, not because he didn't trust her. He trusted her with his life. But he didn't want her to put herself on the line for him. Not now, not about this. He knew she'd do it without a second thought to herself, and that's why he didn't want her to say anything.

Diane entered the room, loudly closing the door behind her. She could hear the two of them arguing from the main squad room but wasn't able to make out any of their conversation.

"Fine," Carly said. "You get three days. Three days, if you're not out of here in three days – we're doing things my way." Carly grabbed her purse from the table and left.

"What was that about?" Diane asked, setting down her briefcase.

"Nothing," Jason said. "It's personal."

"You do know that Carly is married to Sonny, and anything you and Carly spoke about is not protected by spousal privilege," Diane reminded him.

"Don't worry about it," Jason said. He knew perfectly well that Carly was married to Sonny. After all, he was the one that talked her into marrying him. "It's personal, it's none of your business."

"On the contrary," Diane said. "If it affects your case, it's my business. It's my job to keep you out of jail and it is your job to let me know about any information that can help you, even if you don't think it can, I need to know about it."

"It's personal," Jason said.

"If Carly is called as a witness – "

"She's not going to be called as a witness. Ric isn't that stupid," Jason said. If there was one thing he knew about Ric, it was that Ric was a brilliant lawyer. And there was no way that Ric was going to jeopardize his case by putting Carly on the witness stand. The only way that Ric would put Carly on the witness stand is if she saw Alcazar's murder and she didn't, so he didn't need to worry about it.

"Stupid or not, he has every right to call her as a witness if he thinks she knows something about Lorenzo Alcazar, he's going to put her on that stand," Diane said.

"Carly would never say anything to incriminate me, in fact – she'd lie if she had to. Ric knows that. Carly hates Ric, he held her hostage, tried to kill her and take her baby. He's not going to put her on the witness stand because she'll bring it up and it will mess with his credibility," Jason said. He knew that Carly would be treated as a hostile witness in the event that she was called to the witness stand. But he also knew that Carly would find a way to let the jury know that Ric had a personal vendetta against him and she'd expose him for the scum that he was.

"Okay, fine – let's pretend for a minute that Ric Lansing doesn't hate you and that he's not going to put Carly on the stand. Can you tell me why you don't want her on that witness stand? What does Carly know that you don't want anyone else to know?" Diane asked.

"It's personal," Jason said.

"Personal, right. You know what? I don't care what you and Carly do when you're alone together. I don't care if the two of you play monopoly, shoot a game of pool, watch chick flicks or if you're sleeping together," Diane said. "What I do care about is what she knows about that night. I want you to take me through your day, step by step."

"I went to Alcazar's that night, I saw Carly there – and we left," Jason said. He went to Alcazar's to kill him, but when he got there he saw Carly arguing with Alcazar.

"Okay, when you left, was Lorenzo Alcazar still alive?" Diane asked. She didn't believe for a second that Jason killed Lorenzo Alcazar, but her instincts told her that he was holding something back. Her instincts were never wrong.

"As far as I know," Jason said. He and Carly hadn't left right away. After they left the house, they'd talked in the street for about fifteen minutes before leaving.

"As far as you know," Diane muttered. Jason was nothing if not precise. He probably knew criminal law better than half the lawyers in the state, but she couldn't help him unless he told her everything. "Okay, did you or Carly kill Lorenzo Alcazar?"

"No," Jason said.

"So the two of you left, together? Separately?" Diane asked.

"Separately," Jason said. He would've left with Carly, but she had driven herself over.

"Then what?" Diane asked.

"Then I went to Jake's," Jason said.

"And Carly?" Diane asked. She was well aware of the fact that Jason Morgan could dissect the truth into so many particles that he could misrepresent something without really lying. "Where did she go?"

"She went home to check on the boys," Jason said.

"How long were you there?" Diane asked.

"A while," Jason asked. The truth was, he never left Jake's that night.

"A while? How long of a while? Did anyone see you there? Were you there until last call? All night? You do keep a room there, don't you? Were you with anyone?" Jason didn't answer and all the pieces start to fall into place, "Is Carly your alibi?" Diane asked. It started to make sense why Jason was keeping quiet. It wasn't because she knew something. It was because she knew there was no way Jason killed Alcazar. And if Carly knew Jason didn't kill Alcazar, that meant she was with him - all night. And the only reason he wouldn't let her come forward was because he didn't want her husband to know.

"Does it matter?" Jason asked.

"Yes, it matters," Diane said.

"How? No one will believe Carly if she says she's my alibi," Jason said. If Carly came forward, everyone would think she was lying. No one would believe her, least of all the police.

"Why? Because she's your best friend? Your partner's wife? Your lover? If she's your alibi, she's your alibi," Diane said. "The first thing I'm going to do is get you out on bail, then I can work on getting these charges dropped."

"Do you know that Carly has perjured herself before?" Jason asked.

"That's beside the point," Diane said. She'd have to deal with that later. "The point is, is that you and Mrs. Corinthos are lovers and protecting her from public scrutiny is noble, but it's going to get you sent to jail for a very long time."

"Her name is Carly Spencer," Jason said. He hated it when people called her Mrs. Corinthos, as if the only identity she had was Sonny's wife.

"Ms. Spencer, right," Diane said. People who thought Jason Morgan didn't have a weakness, didn't know him very well. He had a weakness. His weakness was 5'5" with blond hair and brown eyes. "Are you sleeping with Carly Spencer? Were you with her, intimately, the night Lorenzo Alcazar was murdered?"

"I'm not on the witness stand," Jason said.

"No, you're not on the witness stand," Diane said. "But if you want me to get you out of jail and keep you out of jail, you need to be truthful with me."

"Everything we discuss is protected by client privilege, isn't it?" Jason asked. He knew it was, but he wanted that to be perfectly clear.

"Yes," Diane said. "Of course it is."

"And that means if I specifically ask you not to disclose something, you can't," Jason said.

"You're exactly right," Diane said. "Anything I discuss with you does not leave this room, this includes discussing it with Sonny." She did have a release that allowed her to speak freely about Jason's case, but if Jason didn't want her to tell Sonny something she wouldn't. She needed Jason to trust her, not Sonny.

"Good. You need to forget about the conversation we had and not mention it to anyone. It doesn't leave this room and it is not to be mentioned to anyone and that includes Carly and the court," Jason said. He had all his people working on this 24/7 and it was only a matter of time before they'd be able to prove he didn't kill Alcazar without involving Carly.

"Fine, I just want to point out to you that you're going through a lot of trouble to keep her name out of this," Diane said. "Do you know that you're paying me triple my hourly rate?"

"You don't understand, it's easier this way," Jason said. This wasn't about the money.

"Easier? Might I remind you that you're in jail, bail has been denied and the DA thinks he can convict?" Diane asked.

"It's still easier," Jason said. He and Carly hadn't figured out what they were going to do about their affair. Neither of them felt she was cheating on Sonny, since she married him to keep him out of prison. But they both knew that Sonny wouldn't see it that way. As much as neither of them wanted to admit it, they both knew he would try to take the boys from her. He'd done it before and they wouldn't put it past him to do it again.

"Fine, it's your life on the line. But you might want to advise Mrs. – Ms. Spencer, not to visit you so often. Her name is on the visitor's log at least twice a day, and not to mention the five-course breakfast she brought you yesterday," Diane said.

"People will find it suspicious if Carly doesn't visit me, don't worry about it," Jason said.


	2. Chapter 2

Part II

Carly lightly ran her finger along Michael's face, "I love you," Carly whispered. She leaned forward and gently kissed his forehead, then carefully lifted Morgan out of Michael's bed. "Go back to sleep." Carly carried Morgan to his room and tucked him in bed. "Sweet dreams." Carly went downstairs and sat down on the couch.

_"So how long are we stuck here?" Carly asked. She walked over to the window and watched the rain pour down._

_Jason walked up to the window, "Until the storm passes," Jason said. It hadn't stopped raining since they'd left the courthouse earlier that day. The only problem with that was, the rainstorm turned into an electrical storm and it wasn't safe to fly. "The pilot said he'd call if it clears in the next few hours otherwise we can't leave until the morning."_

_Carly frowned, "I wanted to see the boys tonight," Carly said. She needed to reassure them, especially Michael, that just because things were changing with her and Sonny, again, it wasn't going to change things for them. Her latest marriage to Sonny had been for all the right reasons, to keep him out of jail, but just because Sonny wanted to make things work didn't mean she wanted the same thing. Jason had promised her the moment she could get a divorce, he'd personally take her to the Dominican Republic to get one. True to his word, he did._

_Jason rested his hand on her shoulder, "You'll be home tomorrow," Jason said._

_Carly turned around and smiled, "I know, I just – "_

_"Miss them?" Jason asked._

_Carly nodded, "Yeah," Carly said and shook her head. "Okay, enough of that. We're celebrating."_

_"Celebrating what?" Jason asked. He knew it should amaze him how Carly could jump from one emotion to the next, but it didn't, not anymore._

_"The end of marriage number - " Carly paused and quickly counted. "Six. The end of marriage number six. You know, it doesn't seem right that I was married six times and you were married twice. Well, technically you were only married once, but we never got married."_

_"Carly - "_

_"Okay, okay - I'm not going to mention it again," Carly said. She knew that her what-ifs made Jason uncomfortable, he didn't like rehashing the past. "But just so you know, I'd marry you to keep you out of jail, you know that right?" She'd do anything for Jason. She'd walk through fire to save him._

_"I know," Jason said. If there was one thing that was a constant in his life, it was that Carly was by his side - always. No matter how tough things got, she was always there for him, fighting for him. "Hopefully, it won't come to that. But if it does, I'll call you, okay?"_

_Carly smiled, "Good." So maybe she and Jason never got the fairytale and she never got the roses, but they had each other. When things were bad, they could always count on each other. "Okay, back to our celebration." Carly walked over to the liquor cabinet in the room and pulled out a bottle of rum and a bottle of wine. "Think this is any good?" Carly asked as she held up the wine._

_"It's wine," Jason said._

_"Right," Carly said and handed to the bottle to Jason so he could open it and took out two glasses._

_Jason poured each of them a glass, "So what are we drinking to?" Jason asked._

_"My freedom," Carly said and raised her glass to meet Jason's. She took a sip of her wine and once she decided it was drinkable she took another drink._

_Jason took a few sips and set his glass on the table. He then reached forward to brush a lock of hair off Carly's face and she closed her eyes for a few seconds. When she opened her eyes, Jason was intently staring into her eyes and gently running his thumb along her jaw. "Jase – "_

_"Shh," Jason whispered. He'd wanted to kiss her for so long, but he hadn't. And right now, he couldn't remember why he shouldn't. All the reasons standing in his way before weren't there. Even though Carly's divorce wouldn't be finalized for six months, technically both of them were single. He reached for Carly's wineglass and set it next to his._

_Carly licked her lips in anticipation, "What is this?" Carly asked. She wanted to kiss him, she'd never stopped wanting to kiss him. But she wasn't going to kiss him if that's all it was going to be._

_"This – this is tonight," Jason said, reaching for Carly and pulling her against him. Carly had once told him that he needed to live in the moment, that he needed to stop over thinking things and just do what he wanted. That he didn't need to think about consequences or the fallout, that the world wouldn't come to an end if he gave into her. Carly wasn't a temptation, because he had always wanted her as much as she wanted him. But as much as he was giving into her, he wasn't - he was giving into himself._

_"And tomorrow?" Carly asked._

_"Tomorrow doesn't matter, tonight does," Jason said. "Tomorrow reality hits." Jason lowered his mouth to Carly's, but waited for her to kiss him. This was her choice, just as much as it was his._

_"Works for me," Carly whispered and kissed Jason._

_She tasted sweet. Sweet like the wine. He could kiss her forever and tonight he would. He was going to do all the things that he'd been waiting years to do. "Good," Jason said . He wanted to feel her lips on his skin, her hair tickling his chest, her nails on his back and her body next to his._

_"Call the pilot," Carly breathlessly said. If they were only going to have one night together, she didn't want it interrupted by the pilot letting them know it was safe to fly. She wanted to spend every second of it in Jason's arms._

_"Later," Jason whispered as he backed Carly up to the bedroom, never breaking their kiss._

"It wasn't supposed to turn out like this," Carly whispered. She hated that Jason was in jail and that she couldn't get him out, because he was protecting her. He was trying to shield her from the inevitable fallout that would take place once Sonny found out they were sleeping together again. She wasn't sure if it would happen again, but it had happened twice. Once, when they were stranded in the Dominican Republic and again the night Lorenzo was killed. "Leticia?"

Leticia walked out of the kitchen, "Do you need something?" Leticia asked.

"I'm going to head out, I have something to take care of," Carly said. Jason told her not to tell anyone about what happened between the two of them, but he hadn't made her promise not to help. Maybe she couldn't help him, but she knew someone that could. "I'll be back in an hour."

* * *

Carly pounded on Johnny's door, "I know you're in there," Carly shouted. "Open this door. Don't you dare try to pretend you're asleep or not home!" She didn't care who Johnny was with or what he was doing, he had 10 seconds to open this door or she would grab Milo's gun and shoot it open. "Ten seconds Marciano or I'm going to shoot it open!"

Johnny pulled open the door, tightening the towel around his waist. "Did something happen?" Johnny asked.

Carly pushed past Johnny, taking a quick glance at the beads of water clinging to his abs. "Focus, focus," Carly muttered. "Yes, something happened. Jason's been in jail for three days!" The PCPD had never been able to keep Jason in jail longer than one day, two at the most.

Johnny sighed, "Carly, I'm working on it," Johnny said. "Did you see him today?" Carly glared at Johnny. "Of course you did. I have people working on it around the clock. Stan's looking Alcazar's financial records and Spinelli is digging in his background. Something is going to turn up. I'm not going to let Jason to go jail for this."

Carly sat down and picked up one of the wine glasses on the table, she tapped the lipstick stain on the glass, "What's her name?" Carly asked.

"Carly - " Johnny said. "Not now."

"Come on, Johnny - what's her name?" Carly asked. "She's here right now, isn't she?"

"Carly, I just got out of the shower - "

"I've seen your shower, it's big enough for two or even three people," Carly said. "But I only see two glasses, so what's her name? I want to meet her."

"Didn't you come over here to harass me, not my girlfriend?" Johnny asked. Carly was worse than his older sisters when it came to meeting his girlfriends. As far as she was concerned no woman was good enough for him, except for her - but being more than friends wasn't something either of them wanted.

"So, she's your girlfriend?" Carly asked. Johnny groaned and walked into the bedroom to get dressed. "I'm not leaving until I meet her!" She walked over to Johnny's desk and picked up a stack of surveillance photos. Some of them were from Alcazar's house and the rest were from the nearest intersection.

"Should you be going through those?" Leyla asked as she walked out of the bedroom, followed by Johnny.

Johnny groaned, it was never a good idea for anyone to question Carly right off the bat. "Honey, I'd like to introduce you to Carly," Johnny said, mouthing _be nice_ to Carly. "Carly, this is Leyla."

"Hi," Carly said. She handed the photos to Johnny and glared at him before smiling at Leyla. "If Johnny didn't want me going through them, they wouldn't be out. Anything useful?"

"No," Johnny said.

Carly slowly nodded, blinking back tears. If Johnny couldn't find something, there wasn't something to be found. She walked over to the mantle and picked up a picture of Johnny's godson.

Johnny turned to Leyla, "Can you give us a minute?" he asked. Leyla's eyes quickly darted to Carly and started to say something but changed her mind, and went back into the bedroom. Johnny walked over to Carly, "I'm going to get him out."

"What if you can't?" Carly asked. Her head was telling her that Jason would get out. If Johnny couldn't find the information he was looking for, then she would just have to come forward as Jason's alibi. She knew it would put the boys through another custody trial and that this could irrevocably sever Sonny and Jason's relationship, but if the payoff was Jason's freedom - she'd do it in a heartbeat.

"I will," Johnny promised. "Everyone is working on this. As soon as I find anything out, I'll call you."

"What do you think about Diane?" Carly asked. "Do you think she's good enough?"

"Jason thinks so," Johnny said. "I do too."

"Justus never would've let Jason sit in jail for three days," Carly said.

"Justus isn't here," Johnny said. Saying he and Jason parted on the best of terms was an understatement. Jason held Justus partially responsible for helping out Faith prior to Michael's kid napping. The only reason Jason hadn't killed Faith was because Justus asked him not to.

Carly frowned, "You're right, he's not," Carly said. She gestured towards the bedroom, "So what's her story? Does she ease your worried mind?"

"It's with an e, not an a," Johnny clarified. "She's one of the new nurses."

"How old is she?" Carly asked. "She barely looks legal."

"She's 27," Johnny said. "After Jason's out, you can give her the third degree." Johnny pulled Carly into a hug. "Just - stay positive, focus on your boys."

"She's pretty," Carly said. "I'll give you that."

Johnny laughed and kissed Carly's forehead, "Call me if you need anything, okay?" Johnny asked.

"I did call," Carly pointed out. She pulled back from Johnny and poked his chest accusingly, "You didn't answer the phone."

"I was in the shower," Johnny said. "What you want me to answer the phone while I'm in the shower?"

"Yes," Carly said. "Call me if you find something out, okay?"

Johnny nodded as he showed Carly out, "I will," Johnny said. "Bye." Carly waved as he shut the door. "Leyla?"

Leyla into the living room and picked up her purse, "I should probably get going," Leyla said.

"You don't have to leave," Johnny said and walked over to her. "You don't work tomorrow."

"So, what's the deal with you and Carly?" Leyla asked. She'd just met Johnny a few weeks ago and things were going great between the two of them. She just wanted to know how often his ex was going to be stopping by or if she should just cut her losses now.

"She's a friend, a good friend," Johnny said. "Her - " Johnny paused for a second, not sure he could explain everything Jason was to Carly in one word. "Her best friend is in jail for something he didn't do and she' a little on edge."

"Oh," Leyla said. "So you and she never - "

"No," Johnny said. "Come here." He reached for Leyla and kissed her. "You're cute when you're jealous." He reached up and took the clip out of Leyla's hair. "Really cute."


	3. Chapter 3

Part III

Jason sat down on the cot on his cell, things were definitely not going as planned. He'd been in jail for four days, for a murder he didn't commit. He'd spend the rest of his life in prison if it meant that Carly got to hold onto her boys. He knew it wouldn't come to it though, because Carly would give him his alibi if he truly needed it. He wondered how differently things would've turned out that night if Carly hadn't been at Alcazar's that night when he'd shown up. It was supposed to be an easy job, go in, shoot Alcazar, have his clean up crew take care of the body and go home. But Carly had been there, so he couldn't do it, not then.

_Jason turned around the moment Carly entered the bar. "What are you doing here?" Jason asked. "I thought you were going to stay home with the boys."_

_"They were already in bed and I knew you'd be here," Carly said. "It's not like you're where you're supposed to be." It should bother her that Jason was going to kill Lorenzo and the only reason he hadn't was because she was there, but it didn't. Lorenzo had flown under the radar for a while, but if he was a threat to Sonny or Jason, she wanted him dead. It didn't matter to her that she had been married to Lorenzo. Her loyalty was to Jason - first, last and always._

_Jason laughed softly, "There's always tomorrow," Jason said. He still planned on killing Alcazar, just not tonight._

_Carly reached for Jason's beer and took a drink, "So - " Carly paused. It had been about six weeks since they'd spent the night together in the Domincan Republic. She knew that neither of them regretted a single second about that night, but they hadn't mentioned it once. It's almost as if they were stuck in purgatory. She was still married to Sonny because he refused to sign the divorce papers. That night meant something to the both of them, but it didn't necessarily mean the start of something._

_"Just say it Carly," Jason said._

_Carly shook her head, "You know - for once, I'm going to be patient - " Jason laughed and Carly playfully slapped his arm. "I'm not going to push - " Carly paused and smiled, and lowered her voice, "About you know."_

_"I know," Jason said and brushed his thumb over Carly's jaw. He knew that Carly wanted more, they both did. Part of him just wanted to step forward with their life, but he couldn't do it. When Sonny found out he was going to do whatever he could to stop it. He wouldn't be able to, but there was one thing he could do and that was use Carly's boys against her and he wasn't going to let him do that._

_Carly smiled, grateful that they were on the same page about this. She had been waiting for Jason for over ten years, she'd been waiting for him through eight marriages, six of them hers, and the final two his. She could wait a few more months. She was mature enough, confident enough and most of all secure enough to know that if she was patient, the payoff would be worth the wait. "Do you have twenty bucks?" Carly asked._

_"You've got money," Jason said._

_"That's not the point," Carly said. "Do you have money?"_

_"Yeah," Jason said._

_Carly smiled and reached for Jason's hand, pulling him to the pool table. "If you win, you get to keep your twenty," Carly said and started racking the balls._

_"We both know I'll win, so we can skip all this and I'll just dance with you," Jason said. He made it sound like it was a chore to dance with her, but it wasn't - and she knew it. He had always liked dancing with Carly, it gave him an excuse to hold her, especially when she wasn't his anymore._

_Carly shook her head and tossed Jason a pool cue, "Nope, I'm playing to win," Carly said and picked up a pool cue._

_"What's your prize?" Jason asked._

_"You," Carly said._

_"Carly - "_

_Carly walked over to Jason, setting her pool cue down, "Don't Carly me," Carly said. "We both know that we both want the same thing. You can't tell me you don't." Carly wrapped her arms around Jason's neck. "Six words, Jase. All you have to do is say six words."_

_Jason brushed a lock of hair behind Carly's ear, he knew he shouldn't - not here, not now. What happened in the Dominican Republic, that was just them. If they did this tonight, he wasn't so sure he'd be able to let her go in the morning. Carly smiled at him and lightly ran her fingers through his hair. Jason closed his eyes for a few seconds. To hell with what he should do, he wanted her and she wanted him - he was sick of denying it. "Do you want to go upstairs?" Jason asked. Carly nodded and he pulled back before she kissed him. Not that he didn't want her to kiss him, he knew they had to be more careful in public. Jake's was practically empty, no one would say a word if he didn't want them to. But he didn't want to give anyone the chance to say anything. "Good."_

They were just supposed to have another night together, a night where it was just the two of them. And they had it. They'd spent the whole night together and went their separate ways in the morning. He stopped at the penthouse to shower and change and then went to the warehouse to try to talk Sonny into signing the divorce papers, when Taggert showed up and arrested him for Alcazar's murder.

"Hey - Angerboy," Taggert said as he approached Jason's cell. "You have a visitor. Your lawyer's here."

Jason glanced at the clock, his bail hearing wasn't for another three hours and Diane wasn't supposed to be here for two. "My lawyer?" Jason asked.

"If you don't want to see your lawyer, I'm perfectly content to let you stay in here," Taggert said. "After all, you might as well get used to it. You're going to be staring at these walls for a long time."

Jason glared at Taggert, "I want to see my lawyer," Jason said, standing up. He walked over to the edge of his cell and extended his wrists through the bars so Taggert could cuff him.

"Right this way Angerboy," Taggert said, letting Jason out of his cell and leading him to the interrogation room. If it were up to him, Morgan wouldn't have any visitors. Not Carly and certainly not his lawyer. But last time he tried to deny Morgan visitors, Mac had a fit. Something about Jason's civil liberties. As far as he was concerned, criminals didn't have any civil liberties, especially Morgan.

Jason rubbed his wrists as soon as Taggert uncuffed him. It was a short walk, but naturally Taggert made the cuffs as tight as possible. He sat down and looked up as soon as the door opened, but said nothing as Justus walked in the room.

"There better not be any marks on my client Detective," Justus said.

"Lieutenant," Taggert corrected.

"Regardless," Justus said. "If I find out that my client has unnecessarily suffered by your hand, I'll have your badge, Lieutenant." Justus sat down across from Jason, "Now, if you'll excuse us - we have a case to discuss."

Jason waited for Taggert to leave the room, "What are you doing here?" Jason asked. It had been years since he had spoken with Justus. The last time he heard from Justus, it was to let him know that he and Faith had moved to California.

"You're in jail and you didn't think to contact me?" Justus asked. He knew that he and Jason weren't as close as they once were, the battle lines had been drawn but the point was that they were family. Maybe that's all they had left, but if he could help Jason - he would.

"I have a lawyer, Diane Miller, she's more than capable of handling this," Jason said.

"If she were so capable, you wouldn't be in jail four days later," Justus said. "Besides, let her handle the case - let me distract Taggert. He gets flustered when he's threatened and he's more likely to make a mistake."

Jason nodded, "Okay," Jason said. While he didn't doubt Diane's capabilities, he also knew that Justus would be able to help. He wouldn't have come if he didn't think he could help. "Who called you?"

"Carly," Justus said. "She called me last night and sent out your jet."

"You don't like Carly," Jason said.

"I don't," Justus said. "But how I feel about Carly doesn't matter. She wants you out of here, so do I. I'm going to do whatever it takes to make that happen." He and Carly had never gotten along, he wasn't sure what Jason saw in Carly - but if Jason wanted Carly in his life, it was Jason's decision. Just like it was his decision to have Faith in his.

* * *

Brenda walked into the squad room and pointed to the nearest officer, "I'm here to see Jason Morgan," Brenda said. 

"Visiting hours don't start for another hour," Cruz said and tried to figure out who the brunette was. She looked familiar but he couldn't place her. Visiting hours started in one hour and if there was one thing he knew about Jason Morgan, it was that Carly Corinthos was always the first and last person to see him - and she wasn't going to react well when she found out he was visiting with another woman.

"I'm his wife," Brenda said. Surely spouses had special privileges or something.

Cruz choked on his coffee, "You're married to Morgan?" Cruz asked.

Brenda smiled and walked over to Cruz, "Not currently," Brenda said. "Get Mac Scorpio - he'll give you the okay for me to see Jason." Brenda smiled again, "After I see him - maybe you and I could go out for lunch."

"You're sure your husband won't mind?" Cruz asked.

"Ex-husband," Johnny clarified and glared at Brenda. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm trying to see Jason," Brenda said. "You hate me so much that you couldn't even call to let me know he was in jail?" She knew Johnny was mad at her, she didn't blame him - but this wasn't about them, this was about Jason.

"It's being handled," Johnny said.

"Handled - right," Brenda said. "That's why when I spoke with Ned, he told me that Jason had been in jail for almost four days?"

"I'm going to get him out," Johnny said.

"You better or - " Brenda paused. Jason couldn't deal with being in jail - she knew that better than anyone. He would rather die than be locked up.

"Or what Brenda? You're going to destroy his life like you did mine?" Johnny asked.

"Can we not have this conversation right now?" Brenda asked.

"You almost got me killed," Johnny hissed. He ran into Brenda a few summers ago in Rome and they started seeing each other. What he didn't know was that she was using him to make her boyfriend jealous and he found out about it - when he woke up one day with a 9mm pressed against his head.

"I didn't know - " Brenda paused. She had no idea how jealous her boyfriend was, she wanted him to pay more attention to her. She didn't want him to hurt Johnny. "Johnny, I'm sorry, okay? You hate me, I get that, okay? But this isn't about me. I just want to see Jason and if he tells me to leave, I'll leave. But I need to see him and if there's anything I can do."

Johnny groaned, "Did you come straight from the airport?" Johnny asked.

"Yes," Brenda said.

"Visiting hours don't start for another hour, I'll take you to lunch," Johnny said. "Besides, Carly will be here soon to see Jason and I'm really not in the mood to referee a fight between the two of you."

* * *

"Come on, pick up," Leyla muttered. "Hey, call me - I need to speak to you - now. It's important. It's really, really important." Leyla snapped her phone shut and took a few seconds to compose herself as the elevator doors opened. If she got caught doing what she was about to do, she could get kicked out of the nursing program. She quickly walked over to the nurses' station and logged into a computer and started searching the database. Within moments she found exactly what she was looking for and she hit print. Leyla looked around and didn't see anyone nearby, so she did a few more searches. Each time, she found exactly what she was looking for. She grabbed her items off the printer and shoved them in her purse. Leyla turned around and came face to face with Epiphany. "Hi." Leyla wondered how much Epiphany saw. 

"You've got twenty minutes if you want to observe that surgery," Epiphany said.

"Actually - I can't," Leyla said.

"Dr. Drake doesn't normally let student nurses observe his surgeries, he made an exception for you - I suggest you take it," Epiphany said.

"I know - but I have a family emergency. I just got the call - I need to take care of something. I was on my way up when I got the call, so I thought I'd stop by and apologize in person. Really - extend my apologies to Dr. Drake. Epiphany, I have to go," Leyla said. "I'm sorry."

"So you came up here - after you got this emergency call, printed off something - "

Leyla grabbed a sheet of paper from the inside of her purse, "Student nurse schedule," Leyla said. "I might have to switch with someone."

Epiphany looked at the paper in front of her - it was the student nurse schedule, "I expect to see you tomorrow at 7 am unless you're out of town," Epiphany said.

Leyla nodded, "Of course," Leyla said. "Now, if you'll excuse me - I really must go." Leyla offered a brief smile and sprinted into the open elevator. She hit the button for the ground floor and looked at the papers in her purse, "Paydirt."


	4. Chapter 4

Part IV

Justus sat down in the chair next to Taggert's desk and smiled, then adjusted his cufflinks, "I'd like to see a copy of the warrant you used yesterday to enter my client's home," Justus said. "I also want to see an itemized list of any property you seized." Justus smiled again, knowing that each time he did it annoyed the hell out of Taggert.

"Talk to your co-counsel," Taggert said and went back to the report he was writing. Who did Justus think he was? Marching into the police station and demanding paperwork. He had better things to do than sit around all day and make copies for some high priced attorney.

"I'm asking you, Detect - " Justus paused and smiled, "Excuse me - I mean Lieutenant Taggert. You are aware that it is illegal to with hold information from the defense, aren't you? I'd hate to have to file a complaint with your superior."

Taggert glared at Justus, "The defense already has that information," Taggert said. "I don't have to give it to you again. Find Ms. Miller and you'll find your information."

"I'm well aware that my co-counsel has the information, I'm asking you for another copy. I'll be happy to compensate the PCPD for the photocopy charges," Justus said. He knew Diane had a copy, he'd already seen it - he just needed an excuse to get under Taggert's skin. Taggert was cocky on a good day, with the prospect of having a real chance of convicting Jason on murder charges he was as arrogant as he'd ever seen him.

"Fine," Taggert said, refusing to let himself be baited by Justus. "Ask the Desk Clerk to make you a copy, and don't worry about the copy charges. The fact that Jason Morgan will be doing twenty plus behind bars is more than enough payment."

"I'm asking you, after all - you were there and you'll be able answer any questions I may have," Justus said.

The quickest way to get rid of Justus was to just print him a copy. Taggert took a deep breath, "I'll print you a copy," Taggert said and pulled up the report on his computer. He hit print and walked to the printer when Carly entered the PCPD.

"I'm here to see Jason," Carly announced, heading straight to the interrogation room. She knew that Diane would be here shortly to meet with Jason, but she wanted to see him first. Even if it was just for a few minutes.

"Not so fast Mrs. Corinthos," Taggert said. "Visiting hours don't start for another - " Taggert glanced at the clock, "Seven minutes."

"I'll wait for Jason there," Carly said and continued to walk to the interrogation room.

Taggert reached out and grabbed Carly's arm, "I don't think so Mrs. Corinthos," Taggert said.

"Don't touch me," Carly said and pulled her arm away.

"Keep your hands to yourself Lieutenant," Justus warned. "I know that Ms. Spencer is on the visitor's list, she can wait for my client in the interrogation room. Unless, you want to take this up with the Commissioner?" Mac certainly didn't play favorites, but he was fair.

Taggert motioned forward, "Go ahead," Taggert said. "Might as well visit the prisoner now, once he's in Pentonville - "

Carly leaned forward, "Jason is not going to prison," Carly hissed. "The PCPD hasn't successfully solved a crime in years and you are not going to wrongfully convict Jason." Carly went into the interrogation room and leaned against the door once she was inside. She needed a minute to collect herself. She couldn't do this anymore, she couldn't survive with Jason in prison even if it was just temporary.

Jason walked into the interrogation room and waited for the guard to un-cuff him, "What's wrong?" Jason asked.

Carly looked up and walked over to Jason, "I don't care," Carly whispered. "I don't care about Sonny, I care about you. I don't care that this will devastate him. All I've been able to think about is that you've been in jail for the past four days for something you didn't do." She knew she should care about Sonny, and to some extent she did. But this was Jason's life, and the only people that were more important to her than Jason were her boys.

"Carly - "

"Jason, don't okay? We slept together, I'm not ashamed of that," Carly said. Shame was the last thing on her mind. Hell, she wanted to shout it from the rooftops that she and Jason were finally together. She'd been waiting more than ten years for this man, but he was more than worth the wait.

"I'm not either," Jason said. Carly was the one person in his life who never judged him or gave up on him. She was the one person who understood him, who truly knew him and now that he'd stopped fighting his feelings for her, he wanted them to have the life they should've had years ago.

Carly smiled, "I know, but – I'm an adult, and have to take responsibility for my actions and if one of those is another custody fight for my boys then I'll have to do it."

"I won't let him take your boys," Jason promised. Sonny had tried to take Carly's boys once before and he wasn't going to get a second chance.

"I know," Carly said. "But we can worry about that later. I want you out of here. I spoke with Johnny last night - and nothing has turned up."

"Something will," Jason said. Johnny had a way of uncovering things that people didn't want found.

"You shouldn't have to wait for something to turn up," Carly said. "Not when you have an alibi, a real alibi."

* * *

"Here to see your lackey, Sonnyboy?" Taggert taunted as Sonny walked into the squad room. 

Sonny glared at Taggert but kept his mouth shut. He wasn't going to do to anything that pissed off Taggert because he didn't want it to adversely affect Jason's case. "I'm here to see Jason," Sonny calmly said.

"You're going to have to wait, your wife is in with him now," Taggert said. "Only one visitor at a time, that is - unless, you don't' have a law degree do you?"

Sonny glanced in the interrogation room, "Fine, I'll wait," Sonny said. He turned around to look for Diane and saw Justus instead. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm Diane Miller's co-counsel," Justus explained.

Sonny shook his head, "You don't work for me and you don't work for Jason," Sonny said. Justus betrayed both him and Jason when he chose Faith over them. There was no going back as far as he was concerned.

"Jason disagrees with you," Justus said. "My client is Jason, not you."

"I don't think your loyalties are with Jason, it's best that you leave Jason's fate in Diane's capable hands," Sonny said.

Justus shook his head, "Jason is my cousin, my family, my blood - maybe that doesn't mean anything to you or to Jason, but it means something to me. I'm going to do whatever I have to do to make sure he doesn't go to jail," Justus said. "As for Ms. Miller's capable hands - " Justus paused and took a deep breath. "I'm well aware of her legal record, but this case isn't just a paycheck for me."

"So you want Jason to owe you?" Sonny asked. "Is that what this is about? Does she want something from Jason? She's not going to get a dime or any mercy from either of us."

Justus walked closer to Sonny, "Leave Faith out of this," Justus hissed. "She doesn't have anything to do with it. Besides, you're one to talk about loyalty." Justus coldly smiled, "Remind me again who the DA is?" Sonny glared at Justus. "Oh that's right, it's your jealous sadistic baby brother. The same man who kidnapped your pregnant wife and chained her to the wall like an animal. And considering how you got your wife to bed in the first place, I don't think you should talk to anyone about loyalty."

* * *

Carly glanced out into the squad room, "Diane's back, which means I'll see you at the bail hearing," Carly said. She knew she had to sit back and let Diane and Justus do their jobs, they were good - but she couldn't help but be worried. What if Jason couldn't get out on bail? What if Johnny couldn't find anything to prove Jason' s innocence? What if no one believed her when she said she was with Jason that night? "Jase - " 

"Hey - " Jason said and motioned Carly over to him. "Everything is going to work out. Just let everything play out." Patience definitely wasn't Carly's strong suit, but he knew everything would work out the way it was supposed to.

Carly toyed with the lapels on Jason's suit jacket, "I don't know how you can be so calm," Carly said. "Ric hates you, Taggert hates you - "

"I have you, that's all that matters," Jason quietly said and tears from Carly's face.

Carly blinked back tears, "I'm supposed to calm you down, not the other way around," Carly said.

"If I know you're okay, then I don't have to worry about you," Jason said.

* * *

Sonny motioned Diane over, "You're working with him?" Sonny asked. 

Diane resisted the urge to roll her eyes, "Yes," Diane said. Jason hadn't been kidding when he said there was bad blood between Sonny and Justus. "Per Jason's request."

Sonny groaned, he really needed to talk to Jason about his loyalties. "I'll talk to - " Sonny's voice trailed off as he glanced into the interrogation room.

Diane watched as Sonny's face changed from annoyance to anger and she followed his gaze, immediately understanding his distress. Carly and Jason were forehead to forehead and they were both touching the other's face. Just watching the two of them, she felt like was intruding on an intimate moment and started to turn away when Jason lowered his mouth to Carly's. It was a chaste kiss, but it spoke volumes. It wasn't a passion-filled kiss leading to something more or a kiss of desperation or goodbye, it was a promise of something more, a new beginning. A beginning they weren't going to get, not as long as Carly was Sonny's wife. Sonny started to storm into the interrogation room when Diane grabbed his arm, "I think you should stay out of there," Diane cautioned. She was more concerned with keeping Jason calm than worry about Sonny's bruised ego.

Sonny jerked his arm away, "She's my wife," Sonny said, his voice seething with anger. "Mine." Sonny headed to the interrogation room and waved off Taggert who tried to stop him. "What the hell is going on here?"

Carly jumped back from Jason, and he moved in front of her, "Get out," Jason said.

"Get your hands off my wife," Sonny said. "Carly, come on - we're leaving."

Carly shook her head, "I'm not going anywhere," Carly said. She hadn't wanted Sonny to find out like this, but there was no way she was leaving Jason - not when he needed her. She didn't care that Sonny had seen them kissing, that was the least of her worries.

"How long has this been going on?" Sonny asked. He wanted to know how long Jason had been sleeping with his wife.

"Sonny - drop it," Jason warned. He didn't want to talk about this, not now and definitely not here.

"What's going on in here?" Ric asked as he walked in the room, with Taggert close behind him. "Only one visitor at a time, if anyone should know the rules by now, it should be you."

"Ric, get out of here," Carly said. This situation was going to go from bad to worse and Ric being present was only going to add fuel to the flame.

"Shut up " Sonny shouted and turned to Jason. "How long have you been fucking my wife?"

"Don't talk to her like that," Jason warned, his voice low and dangerous. He wanted to hit Sonny, but he couldn't - at least not now with all these witnesses and especially not while he was in jail.

"Having some domestic problems Sonnyboy?" Taggert asked. "The best thing would be for the three of you to talk about it." He knew it was only a matter of time before the delicate balance between those three was upset, he was surprised it hadn't happened sooner. But he was glad it was happening now, Sonny's empire would crumble without Jason and his world would be destroyed without Carly.

"Sonny - I'm not your wife," Carly said. "I filed for divorce over six weeks ago. I didn't even want to marry you in the first place. The only reason I married you was because Jason asked me - "

"Was that the deal?" Sonny asked. "You marry me and you fuck Jason? Is that the only way you could get him in your bed? Let me remind you of something, maybe Jason had a moment of weakness and he let you back in his bed, but he'll never love you. He never has, why would he now?"

Carly stepped forward and raised her hand to slap Sonny, but Jason grabbed her wrist, "Don't," Jason quietly said. "Not here." Jason released Carly's hand and rested his hand on her shoulder. "Don't listen to him, he's never known anything about us."

Carly leaned into Jason, letting his touch calm her. She had let Sonny manipulate the truth once before and it trashed her life, she wasn't about to let it happen again, not when Jason's was on the line. "He never has," Carly said.

Maybe he couldn't hit Sonny, but he could goad Sonny into hitting him and use the impending assault charges to get Sonny to sign the divorce papers. "One word Sonny. That's all it would've taken for Carly to leave you for me. Your first wedding - I had to talk her into marrying you. She would've left with me in a heartbeat. Your second wedding, she was waiting for you but would've left with me. I should've taken her then, but my life was more dangerous than yours. By the time you got married the third time, she did love you but she still would've left you. And your fourth wedding, she didn't want to marry you," Jason said. He smiled and ran his hand down Carly's arm, "How many times do you think she thought about me when you were with her? Did she ever call out my name instead of yours?"

Overcome with jealousy, Sonny shoved Carly out of the way and attacked Jason, he pushed him against the wall and punched him. "She's my wife " Sonny shouted. "Not yours!"

Diane motioned to Taggert, "Do something," Diane said.

Taggert reluctantly pulled Sonny off Jason, "Okay, break it up," Taggert said. "I should put both of you in the same cell so you two can finish whatever it is between the two - "

"Detective " Diane interrupted.

"Lieutenant," Taggert corrected.

"I want Jason released," Carly stated.

Ric shook his head, "I don't think so," Ric said. "I'm going to throw him in jail for a long time."

"Mrs. Corinthos, Angerboy - "

"Don't call my client Angerboy," Justus warned. "Do it again, and you'll be the one sharing a cell with Sonny."

Taggert glared at Justus, "As I was saying, Morgan is in jail for murder and he doesn't get to go home because Corinthos messed up his hair," Taggert said.

"He's innocent," Carly said.

Ric rolled his eyes, "Can you prove that?" Ric asked. Carly was loyal to one person and one person only, Jason. He wouldn't put it past her to confess just to take the heat off him.

Carly looked up at Jason and he nodded, "Jason didn't kill Lorenzo," Carly said, looking around the room but resting her gaze on Sonny. The only reason they'd kept quiet was him, but obviously he knew so what was the point of keeping quiet?

"But you don't have any proof. See, Morgan doesn't ave an alibi and it was a well known fact that he wanted Alcazar dead," Ric said. "So it seems to me that - "

"He has an alibi - me," Carly said.

Ric groaned, "And I'm supposed to believe you because – "

"Because we were together. We were in his room at Jake's the night Lorenzo was killed. People saw us at the bar, I'm sure someone saw us go upstairs," Carly said. "Call my Nanny - ask her where I was that night. Call my guards, ask them where they left me. Call - "

"Remind me again how many times you've perjured yourself?" Ric asked.

"My client has an alibi," Justus said. He really wasn't sure if Carly was telling the truth or not, but Jason hadn't stopped her so that made him believe she was telling the truth. "I suggest someone impartial take her statement."

"Cruz get in here," Taggert said. "Take Mrs. Corinthos' - "

"Ms. Spencer," Justus corrected, and Carly gave him a small smile.

"Ms. Spencer's statement," Taggert finished. He motioned a guard over, "Take Morgan back to lock-up - "

"You'll do no such thing," Diane said. "We have a bail hearing - "

"Not to mention he was assaulted," Justus added.

Ric couldn't believe he was about to ask but if they wanted to speed things along, he had to, "Jason do you want to file assault charges?" Ric asked.

* * *

Leyla rushed into the PCPD and looked around the room, she walked up to the nearest officer, "I need to see Jason Morgan," Leyla said. 


	5. Chapter 5

Part V

"What are you doing here?" Carly asked as Cruz walked her past Leyla. "You shouldn't be here."

Leyla took a deep breath, "I'm here to see Jason," Leyla said.

Carly narrowed her eyes at Leyla, "What do you need to see Jason for?" Carly suspiciously asked. "Do you even know him?" She really didn't have time to deal with Johnny's latest conquest, but she wanted to know what Leyla was doing here. "What, do you want money or something?" She wondered if it was a coincidence that Johnny started Leyla right before Lorenzo was killed. She wondered how much Johnny actually knew about Leyla.

* * *

Jason waited a few moments before answering, "No," Jason said and looked Sonny straight in the eye. "I'm not pressing charges, but I would like to file a police report." 

Justus nodded, "Okay, Lieutenant, you heard my client," Justus said. He wasn't surprised that Jason wasn't pressing charges, but wondered why Jason wanted a police report. He had a feeling that Jason and Sonny's relationship was never going to be the same again. He was glad he was able to be there to help Jason. He couldn't speak for Diane, but he only had Jason's interests in mine - he wasn't sure if Diane's loyalties were ultimately with Jason or Sonny.

Ric motioned to Sonny and shook his head, if there was one person that could destroy Sonny it was Jason. He never thought he'd see the day when the two of them were on opposite sides. All he had to do was send Jason to prison, and let Jason destroy Sonny's life. "Taggert, take his statement in another room," Ric said.

Diane looked at Jason, shaking her head, "Am I correct in assuming that your cousin will be with you while giving your statement?" Diane asked. She knew things were going to get messy once Sonny found out Jason was sleeping with Carly, but she didn't think it would end up like this. She was in a tight situation, both Sonny and Jason paid her retainer. Technically, Jason was her client right now, but Sonny also had the right to have a lawyer present. Diane said a silent prayer of thanks that she didn't deal with family law, so there was no way she'd be involved in the custody battle for the Corinthos children.

"Yes," Justus answered. "Feel free to accompany Sonny while he gives his statement."

* * *

Brenda glanced at the doors of the PCPD, "You're gonna get him out, right?" Brenda asked. Jason couldn't go to prison, she knew that better than anyone. 

Johnny nodded, "Brenda - trust me, I'm doing everything I can to get Jason out of this," Johnny said. He was quickly learning that it was a lot easier to cover up a murder than prove someone was innocent. "And if that doesn't work - Jason's not going to prison." He'd pay someone to confess or break Jason out of jail as a last resort.

"Okay," Brenda said. She knew that Johnny was doing everything humanly possible to get Jason out of jail, but so far nothing had worked. She wondered what evidence Ric actually had against Jason, but whatever it was it was enough to keep him in jail all this time. She was glad that for the moment, she and Johnny had been able to put aside their differences and focus on what was important - Jason.

Johnny glanced at his watch, "If you want to see Jason before his bail hearing, now is the time," Johnny said. He knew that Diane and Justus would want to meet with Jason alone the last hour before his bail hearing.

Brenda took a quick glance at Johnny and shook her head and walked into the PCPD. She rolled her eyes when she saw Carly giving the third degree to a young woman in the squad room, "Who's that?" Brenda asked. "Jason's new girlfriend? Carly looks especially territorial."

"No," Johnny said, throwing Brenda a cruel smile. "She's mine." Johnny walked up to the pair and Brenda followed him. "Leyla?"

"Johnny - where were you?" Leyla asked. "I called you - "

"He was with me," Brenda answered and smiled.

Carly rolled her eyes, "There's nothing you can do here, so you can go back to Rome - go back to your psychotic boyfriend and leave all of us out of your life," Carly said. She barely had the patience to deal with Johnny's latest bed warmer, she definitely didn't want to deal with someone who almost got him killed. "Especially Johnny."

Brenda elbowed Johnny, "You told her?" Brenda asked. She understood that Johnny was upset with how things played out between the two of them, but that didn't mean he had to go sharing all the details with everyone in town. "Why did you do that?"

"What's going on?" Leyla asked. She'd never seen this woman before and Johnny hadn't mentioned meeting up with anyone. There was obviously some history between the two of them and she wanted to know what it was.

Johnny took a deep breath, "Later," Johnny said. He wasn't sure how to explain Brenda, but now wasn't the time or place to have that conversation. "What are you doing here?"

"I need to see Jason," Leyla said. "It's important."

"Angerboy has had enough visitors for the day," Taggert said.

"Unless you want me to file charges - I suggest you use my client's name," Diane said. She wasn't sure how or why, but Justus really did get under Taggert's skin.

"I thought he was your client," Taggert said and motioned to Sonny.

Johnny looked at Carly then at Sonny before glancing in the interrogation room and tried to figure out what just happened. He wanted to know what the hell just happened and why both Carly and Sonny were being escorted to separate rooms to have their statements taken.

"He is," Diane said.

"Isn't that a conflict of interest?" Taggert asked. "Representing the man who your client assaulted?"

"Just take my statement," Sonny said. He wanted to get this over and done with.

"I think this is the most cooperative you've ever been with the police," Taggert commented.

"Are you Jason's lawyer?" Leyla asked.

"I am," Diane said. "And you are?"

"Leyla Mir," Leyla said.

"I think Lieutenant Taggert is right, Jason has had enough visitors for the day," Diane said.

Leyla placed her hand on Johnny's arm, "I need to see him - it's really important," Leyla pleaded.

"I have to accompany a client while his statement is taken," Diane said. She had better things to do than talk with every single woman that came to visit Jason.

"Diane?" Johnny asked. "Five minutes? Can you give us five minutes?" He had no clue what Leyla needed to see Jason about, but whatever it was, it must be important.

"Fine," Diane said and motioned to Taggert. "Take my client to another interrogation room, I'll be there in five minutes. Do not take his statement without me present."

"Mrs. Corinthos - "

"Ms. Spencer," Carly corrected Cruz.

"Ms. Spencer," Cruz said. "Right this way." Cruz motioned for Carly to follow him to an interrogation room.

"I need five minutes," Carly said. She wanted to know Leyla needed to tell Diane.

"Your five minutes are up," Cruz said and led Carly away.

Diane led Johnny and Leyla to an isolated part of the police station, "What is so important that you rushed right in here to talk to Jason?" Diane asked.

"I was in the elevator at the hospital and I overheard DA Lansing on the phone with the coroner," Leyla said. "I heard him offer the coroner money for an autopsy report."

"This is all you have? A one-sided phone conversation?" Diane asked. She wouldn't put it past Ric Lansing to pay for evidence, but she needed proof. Especially, when Jason's freedom was resting on the alibi of his married girlfriend. "Did he even mention Jason or Lorenzo Alcazar?"

"No - "

"Then all you have is here say, Ms. Mir," Diane said.

"Can you get a subpoena or a search warrant for Ric's place?" Johnny asked. He needed to get the name of the coroner and have Spinelli look into his financial records.

"Not based on a phone conversation," Diane said.

Leyla reached into her purse and handed Diane some documents, "What about this?" Leyla asked.

Diane started looking at the reports, "Is this what I think it is?" Diane asked and smiled. Things were certainly looking up. She was going to have Ric Lansing disbarred for tampering with evidence.

"What is it?" Johnny asked as he looked over Diane's shoulder. "Autopsy reports?"

"It's nearly impossible to delete anything from the hospital's mainframe without the Chief of Staff's approval," Leyla explained. "For example, if a duplicate record is accidently created - it needs to be deleted. But if it's deleted, it's not deleted - it's only hidden. You can't find the record by name or case number, but it will show up if you do a search by date."

"These are two identical autopsy reports - with different names and dates," Diane said. "How did you get these?"

"I'm in the student nursing program at General Hospital," Leyla said.

"Good work, Ms. Mir," Diane said and walked up to the nearest officer. "Get me the police commissioner - immediately."

"Baby, you're brilliant," Johnny said and kissed Leyla. Last night he was starting to doubt if he'd be able to find the evidence he needed to free Jason. Luckily, Leyla was able to find it.

"All I did - "

Johnny shook his head, "Don't belittle what you did," Johnny said. "You found what no one else could. You risked your job - "

"And I'm sure once it gets out that I stole documents to free the local mob enforcer , I'll be kicked out of the program," Leyla said.

Johnny laughed softly, "Hardly - do you have any idea who Jason's parents are?" Johnny asked. "Or Carly's mother?"

"No, what does that have to do with anything?" Leyla asked.

"Jason's really a Quartermaine and Carly is Bobbie's daughter," Johnny said. "Trust me - you're not going to get kicked out of the program for this."

* * *

Mac handed Jason a stack of documents, "Sign here," Mac said. The one time he had solid evidence against Jason Morgan and it was falsified by his DA. Internal Affairs was going to have a field day with this. 

Jason signed where Mac indicated, "Am I free to go?" Jason asked.

"Yes," Mac said. "Just because you weren't guilty this time, doesn't mean - "

"Enough with the warnings," Justus said. "I think you should take a look into your department before warning innocent citizens."

Carly hugged Jason, "Thank God," Carly whispered.

"I told you it would work out," Jason quietly said.

Brenda rolled her eyes, "Can you two get a room or something?" Brenda asked.

Jason reluctantly let go of Carly and turned to Brenda, "Do you need a ride somewhere?" Jason asked. He reached for Carly's hand and led her out of the PCPD.

"Like the airport?" Carly hopefully asked.

"I have a rental," Brenda said. "I'll be in town a few days. I would love to catch up right now, but I only have a few hours before my date - "

"With who?" Carly asked. If Brenda was going out with Johnny, she'd kill him. She wasn't exactly loyal to Leyla, but she did just put herself on the line for Jason and that had to mean something.

"Cruz," Brenda said. She was only going to be in a town for a few days, she wasn't looking for a relationship or anything serious - but a date would be nice.

"Cruz Rodriguez?" Jason asked. "No - you're not dating a cop."

"Last time I checked, you don't have a say on who I date," Brenda said. "And if you get a say in my dating life, I get a say in yours." Brenda smiled sweetly at Carly then laughed as she looked at Jason. "You're not into me or anything are you?"

Jason glared at Brenda, "A cop? Are you serious?" Jason asked. "You can't date a cop."

"It's just dinner!" Brenda said. "I'm not going to pick out china patterns or anything."

"Jase - " Carly said. She didn't care who Brenda went out with, as long as it wasn't Johnny. "Can we go?"

"Yeah," Jason said. He was more than ready to get out of here. He had better things to do than police Brenda's dating life. "Call me tomorrow, I want to talk to you before you leave for Rome."

"Okay," Brenda said. "Stay out of jail, okay?"

Jason laughed softly, "I'll do what I can," Jason said. Brenda gave him a small wave and headed to the parking lot. "Ready?"

Carly nodded, "Yeah," Carly said.

Jason opened the door for Carly and climbed into the limo after she did, "Where to?" Jason asked. They definitely had a lot to talk about. There was so much history between the two of them, they'd been everything to each other over the years but oddly enough - they'd never dated. Saying things were complicated right now was an understatement. Technically, Carly was still married and he didn't even want to think about the impending custody battle.

"My place," Carly said. "The boys won't be home until after dinner, so we have a few hours to start sorting things out." Carly rested her head on Jason's shoulder, sighing when he put his arm around her.


	6. Chapter 6

Part VI

"So now what?" Carly asked as she led Jason into her house.

Jason shut the door and pushed Carly against the wall and kissed her. Carly's arms automatically wrapped around Jason's neck and she pulled him closer to her. Jason groaned and trailed kisses along Carly's throat until landing on her mouth again. "God, I've missed you. I've been waiting all week to do that," Jason said and stepped back. He knew that he and Carly hadn't made any decisions about their future the last time they slept together, but not being together was not an option.

Carly playfully slapped Jason's arm, "All week? I've been waiting 11 years," Carly said.

Jason quickly kissed Carly, "Forgive me?" Jason asked, leading Carly to the sofa.

"Jase, we've both made mistakes - especially me - "

"Not especially you, both of us - we both messed things up, if I had been honest with you - " Jason paused and shook his head. All those years ago, if he'd only told her how he'd felt they wouldn't be in this situation now.

Carly shook her head, "I don't want to get caught up in the past," Carly said. It killed her to think how much time they wasted and how screwed up their lives got and how it could all be traced back to one night. "We're here - together, that's all that matters, right?"

Jason smiled and tucked a lock of her hair behind Carly's ear, "Yeah," Jason said. In the grand scheme of things, that was all that mattered. He was cleared of Alcazar's murder and he was here with Carly. "As for everything else - "

"At least he knows," Carly said. She hadn't set out to hurt Sonny, neither of them had. But intent didn't matter, not only was he hurt - he was embarrassed and in his mind, betrayed. Coupled with jealousy, that was a lethal combination and the last thing she wanted was for her boys to be caught in another custody battle.

"He's not taking your boys," Jason promised. "I'm not going to let him." In spite of all his faults, Sonny was a good father. There was no reason for the boys not to have both of their parents in their lives. But if Sonny tried to take the kids from Carly, he'd make sure Sonny was never left with them unsupervised.

"I trust you," Carly said. She trusted Jason more than she trusted herself and if he said she wasn't losing her boys, she wouldn't. "So - about us - "

"What about us?" Jason asked.

"You know that talk you've avoided for the past eight years?" Carly asked. "If we're gonna work, we need to have it." She was almost positive that they were on the same page about things, but she'd made assumptions before and she wasn't about to make them again.

Jason smiled, he knew what Carly wanted to hear - what she needed to hear. He could finally admit it with no reservations or qualifiers. Jason cupped Carly's face in his hand and looked into her eyes, "I love you," Jason said, brushing his thumb along her jaw. "I'm in love with you." Jason brushed his lips over Carly's, "I want to be with you." Jason gently wiped the tears from Carly's face and lowered his voice, smiling slightly, "I want to be the main dish."

Carly laughed, "Are you ever going to let me forget that?" Carly asked. She wondered how different their lives would be if she hadn't insisted on no-names from the get-go. Would they have wasted all this time or would they be somewhere different? Carly shook her head, it didn't matter - they were here now, that's all that mattered. "I want that - I want all of that. I love you so much." Carly smiled and softly kissed Jason, "But how do we do that?" She and Jason had been through hell and back, he was the one constant in her life all these years. They'd been everything to each other, but they'd never dated.

"We just do," Jason said. "Don't make this more difficult - "

"We've never even been on a date," Carly said. Sure, they'd gone places together - restaurants, events, trips - but never with the intention of it being a date.

"I thought dating was to get to know a person," Jason said. "I know you - you know me."

"True, but it's a transition," Carly said. "An important one. Jase, I don't want to mess this up."

"We're not going to mess it up," Jason said. "I'm going to get Sonny to sign the divorce papers and convince him to keep the custody agreement how it is now."

"And - "

Jason smiled, "And, there's this amazing woman that I'm going to take on a date," Jason said. "She's this really hot divorcee and I'm hoping I can make my move before she gets married again. She's been married six times."

"Maybe you'll just have to marry her," Carly teased.

"Maybe I will," Jason whispered, closing the distance between them and capturing her mouth in a kiss.

* * *

"Where do you want to go to dinner?" Johnny asked. "We are going to celebrate - Jason's freedom and your brilliance." 

Her brilliance, all she'd done was be in the right place at the right time. She'd overheard DA Lansing on the phone with the coroner, and he'd paid the coroner to falsify Lorenzo Alcazar's autopsy report. Lelya turned to look at Johnny, "Don't you want to go celebrate with Jason?" Leyla asked. "I'm sure he's glad to be out of jail, maybe the two of you should go out."

Johnny laughed softly, "Carly's with Jason," Johnny said. Carly filled him in on what happened at the police station and the night Alcazar was killed. He wasn't sure if Alcazar was really dead or not, so he had someone looking into it. "They have a few things to sort out, and I'm sure they're going to celebrate on their own." He knew the last thing either of them wanted was company.

"Oh - okay," Leyla said. She'd been working the night Lorenzo Alcazar supposedly died. It had been a quiet night in the ER, so Epiphany sent the student nurses home. She'd volunteered to stay because she wanted to make sure she stayed on Epiphany's good side. Aside from Epiphany, there were three other nurses on duty.

"Last night I told you that Jason is Carly's best friend, and he is. But they're more than friends, and now the only thing standing in their way is a paper marriage," Johnny explained.

"So now I get your undivided attention?" Leyla asked. There was hardly any activity that night. There was a minor car accident, a birth and an emergency appendectomy. She spent most of her time doing charts at the nurses' station.

"Something like that," Johnny said, sitting down and motioning Leyla over to him. He pulled her onto his lap and she turned so she was facing him. "So we can go out." Johnny pulled Leyla closer for a kiss. "Or we can stay in." He groaned when Leyla pulled back. "Or not."

"Whatever is fine," Leyla said. Epiphany had patched up the woman who'd gotten into a car accident, she had a few cuts and bruises - nothing major. The woman in labor hadn't had her baby by the time she finished her shift, and Bobbie had been the one who checked on her throughout the night. Nadine scrubbed in for the emergency appendectomy.

Johnny brushed his hand over Leyla's face and softly kissed her, "Let's stay in," Johnny suggested and kissed Leyla again. His hand slid down her back and he pulled her closer.

Leyla broke off their kiss, "Something's off," Leyla said.

"Obviously," Johnny said, leaning back. "Your mind is somewhere else."

Leyla leaned forward and kissed Johnny, "Sorry," Leyla apologized. "It's hard to think when you kiss me - "

"Baby, you don't need to think right now," Johnny insisted, framing Leyla's face with his hands. He slid one hand behind her neck and kissed her, "Just focus on us, no more thinking." He teased her with short kisses and started unbuttoning her shirt, groaning when she pulled away.

Leyla reluctantly pulled away and stood up, "Actually, I do," Leyla said, buttoning her shirt. "I was working the night Lorenzo Alcazar was killed or wasn't killed or whatever. It wasn't busy in the ER and I was the only student nurse on duty."

"Okay," Johnny said.

"Everyone was at the nurses' station for most of the night, except Nadine - she was in surgery," Leyla said. "And - " Leyla paused. "Epiphany went on break and DA Lansing showed up and he left about five minutes later. Then Elizabeth took another break - " Leyla's eyes grew wide, "Johnny, what do you know about Elizabeth?"

Johnny shrugged, "Not much, she used to date Lucky Spencer - she's been hung up on Jason for years, but he's not interested," Johnny said.

"Remember how I told you that you can't delete a duplicate record?" Leyla asked. Johnny nodded and she continued, "Well, unless someone is currently a patient the autopsy report has to go into a new record. Only nurses can create new record, the coroner can't do it."

"You're sure about this?" Johnny asked. It didn't surprise him at all that Ric tried to frame Jason. As for the coroner - he obviously had a price and Ric named it. As for the nurse that helped Ric - he wondered what her price was.

"Positive," Leyla said. "Elizabeth took a dinner break around midnight, when she came back she was upset about something but she wouldn't say what. DA Lansing showed up a few hours later and she went on break again, and she was gone for a while. Johnny, the ER wasn't busy - I can tell you where everyone was the whole night except her."

Johnny grabbed his phone and dialed, "Max - hey, I want someone following Elizabeth Webber. Make sure it's someone she won't recognize and have them call me the moment she makes contact with Ric. Get me her phone records and bank statements and see if Spinelli can hack into the surveillance of the gas station across the street from Jake's. I want to know if she was there the night Alcazar was killed - sometime around midnight." He wasn't sure if money was her price, but revenge might be her price. If Elizabeth saw Jason with Carly that night, jealousy might have pushed her over the edge and left her in a vulnerable place when Ric showed up at the hospital that night looking to frame Jason.

* * *

"They both asleep?" Jason asked and shut off the TV. 

Carly gently ran her hand over Morgan's back, then looked at her oldest son, "Michael," Carly softly said. He stirred, but didn't awaken. Carly lifted her head from Jason's shoulder, being careful not to disturb the boys. "You know - when I pictured this night, I have to admit I didn't picture this."

Jason laughed softly, "Me either," Jason said, wrapping his arm around Carly. "But it's perfect." It felt right to be here with Carly and her boys. For the first time in a long time he was content, and it was because of Carly.

"It is, isn't it?" Carly asked, resting her head on Jason's shoulder. "You - you know what would make it even more perfect?"

"You always want more, don't you?" Jason said.

"Yeah, but this is something I've wanted for a while," Carly said. She'd wanted this for as long as she could remember and maybe soon it could be a reality.

"What?" Jason asked, touching Carly's chin so she was looking up at him.

"A little girl sleeping upstairs," Carly said, her voice as soft as a whisper. "Our little girl." She loved her boys, he did too. Having Jason's baby wasn't going to change the way any of them felt about the boys, they wouldn't love her more because she was Jason's biologically. It wasn't about biology, it was about creating a life together, not just a life, but their life.

Jason kissed Carly's forehead, "We'll have her," Jason promised, brushing the tears from Carly's face. "We're going to have our little girl."

* * *

Leyla kissed Johnny one last time and grabbed his shirt, slipping it on. "You never told me who that woman was at the police station," Leyla said. Johnny pulled at the buttons and she playfully slapped his hand away and kissed him again. She got up and walked into the kitchen and grabbed a few bottles of water. She sat down on the edge of the couch and offered Johnny a bottle. 

"Brenda is Jason's ex-wife," Johnny said, sitting up. He wasn't lying, but he wasn't exactly telling the truth either. He was hoping that Leyla would've forgotten about Brenda by now. But who was he kidding? Leyla had a photographic memory, she remembered every detail. Lucky for him, it included remembering everything that happened the night Alcazar supposedly died. "She's never gotten along with Carly." Hoping to distract her, he brushed his hand over her bare leg.

Leyla smirked at Johnny, reached down and tossed him his boxers. "What were you doing with her?" Leyla asked.

"I ran into her at the police station," Johnny said and started to get dressed. "She was there to see Jason, visiting hours hadn't started yet so I took her to lunch."

"Carly mentioned something about her staying away from you," Leyla said.

"She did," Johnny said. "A few years back - Brenda and I, we had a thing. It didn't work out. It ended badly, but it's over. Honestly, I haven't thought about her in a while." He hadn't thought about Brenda in months. What they had, while it wasn't what he thought it was, it was good. But, he couldn't be with someone he couldn't trust - and that list included Brenda. Johnny walked over to Leyla, "Now you, I can't get you out of mind." Johnny lowered his mouth to hers and pulled his shirt over her head, "Never should've gotten dressed."

* * *

"What are you doing here?" Sonny demanded as Jason walked into his office. 

"She doesn't love you," Jason said. He knew that Sonny had been holding out on the divorce because he wanted Carly to fall in love with him again, but that wasn't going to happen. Not now - not ever, and the sooner Sonny accepted it the sooner all of them could move on with their lives. "I'm sorry you had to find out that way." He wouldn't apologize to Sonny for sleeping with Carly, not when she was his wife in name only. Sonny slept with Carly, knowing exactly what she meant to him but he didn't care. But he also knew more than he wanted to know about finding out the woman you loved was with someone else by walking in on the wrong moment. That was the only thing Sonny was going to get an apology for.

Sonny glared at Jason, "How long?" Sonny asked. "Before we got married or after? How long has my wife been unfaithful to me?"

"It doesn't matter," Jason said. "Carly married you to keep you out of jail, that's what she did - that's all she owed you." Jason tossed a set of divorce papers on Sonny's desk, "Don't drag this out longer than necessary. Don't even think about trying to take the boys from her, or you'll regret it."

"You're threatening me?" Sonny asked. For years, the three of them operated on a delicate balance. For the most part, Jason stayed out of his relationship with Carly unless one of them asked him to intervene. Sonny learned early on to stay out of Carly's relationship with Jason. Carly had no reason to intervene with his relationship with Jason, since it was based on business. But there were two unspoken rules that were now coming into fruition. If he and Carly were at odds, Jason was going to take her side. If Jason ever got back together with Carly, he was going to be the odd man out.

"No," Jason said. "I'm reminding you that you don't own Carly. She's the mother of your children and that's all she is to you. She doesn't love you, she's not in love with you and you're not going to use me as an excuse to hurt her because you feel betrayed."

"I don't own her, but you speak for her?" Sonny asked.

Jason laughed softly, wondering if Sonny ever thought before speaking. Carly had never had a problem with him speaking for her. Jason decided not to bait Sonny, "She doesn't want to fight with you," Jason said. "She knows you're the boys' father, she doesn't want you to take them away from her anymore than you want her to take them away from you. There's no reason for the custody agreement to change." They shared joint custody, but the boys mainly stayed with Carly, while Sonny had liberal visitation.

"I'll think about it," Sonny said. He'd sign the papers, he'd have to play by Carly's rules if he wanted to keep the boys in his life. Because if there was one person that could make his life hell, it was Jason. He didn't doubt that Jason would do it, if he turned on Carly.

"Think quickly," Jason said. "You have one week to sign everything or Carly's dragging you to court for sole custody." Considering Sonny's recent outburst at the PCPD, he wasn't going to want a custody battle.

* * *

"Hi," Brenda said. "When I called, I wasn't sure you'd show up." 

Johnny shrugged and motioned for the waitress to bring him a cup of coffee, "What do you want?" Johnny asked.

"Why are we here?" Brenda asked. "Couldn't we have gone to Kelly's or something?" She hated the coffee shops downtown, the ones on the pier were so much better.

"After I'm done here, I have to meet Jason," Johnny said.

"Why on earth would Jason want to meet you downtown?" Brenda asked. "Jason hates downtown." The only thing that was good downtown was shopping and Jason hated shopping. She glanced out the window and the first store she saw was a jewelry store. Brenda groaned, "He's gonna do it, isn't he? He's gonna marry her?"

"He loves her," Johnny said. "He trusts her."

Brenda nodded, "Yeah, as much as I hate to admit it - he does," Brenda said. She wasn't sure if she'd ever really understand Jason's relationship with Carly. After everything that happened between them, she was surprised their friendship not only survived intact but that they actually found their way back to each other. "But you don't trust me."

"You're right, I don't," Johnny said.

"We used to be friends," Brenda said. She wasn't sure why she'd messed things up with Johnny. They'd had a good thing going, then her ex who had tossed her aside wanted her back and she saw an opportunity to make him jealous, so she did. She never would've guessed that he would've pulled on a gun on Johnny. Needless to say, Johnny wasn't too thrilled with either of them. After that day, she never saw Antonio again - she didn't doubt that Johnny killed him, she didn't blame him. "I'm sorry."

"For what?" Johnny asked.

"Everything," Brenda said. "For using you." When she was with Sonny, she knew that Johnny had a thing for her. She was mad at her ex and wanted to make him jealous and used Johnny to do that. "For messing things up between us." What started as a way to get back at Antonio could've been something more, but it started on a lie. "For lying to you."

Johnny waited a few moments before answering, "I'm over it," Johnny said. "I mean - yeah, it pisses me off when I think about it. But, Brenda - I can't hang onto the past like that. I moved on."

"Do you love her?" Brenda asked.

"No," Johnny said.

"But you like her, a lot don't you?" Brenda asked.

Johnny nodded, "Yeah, I do," Johnny said. He hadn't been dating Leyla that long, but from what he knew about her so far he liked. She was smart, funny, sexy as hell and most importantly - trustworthy. "We have fun together."

"I bet Carly doesn't like her," Brenda said. She wasn't sure why Johnny let Carly interfere with his love life as much as she did, but he did.

"They're only met a few times," Johnny said. "They didn't exactly get along."

Brenda laughed, "Well, she's not me - so that's a plus," Brenda said. "And since she just helped get Jason out of jail, I'm sure she'll be her new best friend."

Johnny laughed, "Let's see how long that lasts," Johnny said. He felt his phone vibrate and he glanced at the caller ID before answering, "Yeah." Johnny closed his eyes for a few seconds, "No - don't worry about it, I'll handle it. Thanks." Leyla was right. Elizabeth had been at Jake's around the time Jason and Carly were there, he bet that she saw more than she wanted to see. He wondered if Ric was going to turn on her and how Jason wanted this handled. "Bren?"

"Let me guess - you have to go," Brenda said.

"Yeah - there's a few loose ends to take care of," Johnny said. He dropped some bills on the table and stood, "Take care Brenda."

"You too," Brenda said. "Johnny?" Johnny paused and waited for Brenda to continue. "Are - are we okay?" She knew that she'd never have a chance with Johnny, but maybe they could salvage their friendship.

Johnny slowly nodded, "Yeah - I'll give you a call next time I'm in Rome," Johnny said.

* * *

Carly looked up when she heard the door open, "You're early," Carly said, lighting a few more candles. 

"What's all this?" Jason asked, gesturing around the living room.

Carly smiled and walked over to Jason, wrapping her arms around his neck. "This is your celebration," Carly whispered and quickly kissed Jason. She started to pull away and he pulled her closer. "Your private celebration."

"We can skip all this - " Jason softly kissed Carly. "And just go upstairs. Where are the boys?"

"At Bobbie's," Carly said. "So we have the house all to ourselves." Carly brushed her lips over Jason's, moaning softly when he started kissing her neck. "Later. I wanted us to have dinner, I need to change - "

"You look good," Jason quietly said. Carly looked good no matter what she was wearing, he didn't care if she was wearing some expensive dress or just jeans and a t-shirt, either way she looked good. "I love you. I love that you want to do all this - but I don't need any of this. I just need you."

Carly smiled, "I love you too," Carly whispered. "So much - for so long, and if this is you trying to get out of a date, I'll shoot you."

Jason brushed the tears from Carly's face, "Is your schedule clear?" Jason asked. "Because tomorrow - you and me, we're going on a date." Jason kissed Carly before she could answer him, "Do you think your mom can watch the boys for a few days?" He knew that Carly wanted to date, to ease into this transition. But there was no question for him that he wanted to marry her. He wasn't going to wait around while they dated, so tomorrow he was going to ask her to marry him.

"A few days?" Carly asked. "I know there's a lot going on right now - " Carly paused, the last thing she wanted to do was put her relationship with Jason on the back burner, but so many other things were going on.

"Everything's been taken care of," Jason said. "Johnny confirmed that Alcazar is dead. Ric was involved - Ric, he had help. Anyone that helped Ric, they're going to be dealt with - including Elizabeth."

"She what?" Carly asked. "I'm going to kill her. I'm going to wrap my hands around her scrawny little neck and strangle her. What the hell was she thinking? Helping Ric frame you?"

Jason ran his hands up and down Carly's arms to calm her down, "It doesn't matter what she was thinking, as soon as things settle down, Johnny and I will handle her. I need you not to provoke her. I want her to think no one knows. Then, when the timing is right - we're gonna handle her." It would be easy enough to keep Ric quiet, he wasn't going to say a word about her. And in a few days, Ric would be dead. It'd be easy enough to frame Ric's death on any number of the people he'd locked up over the years or someone from the Alcazar Organization. Either way, Ric wouldn't live until his next birthday. Elizabeth wouldn't either.

Carly nodded, "Whatever you want," Carly promised. She wasn't going to interfere, she was going to let Jason handle this. "We can do this your way."

"We're gonna be okay. We're gonna do this our way," Jason promised. "You, me, the boys - " Jason paused and softly kissed Carly. "Our little girl." Jason kissed Carly again, "We're gonna have everything we always wanted and no one can ever take it away from us."

THE END


End file.
